The way we work is changing. Work is no longer tied to physical presence. There is a trend for knowledge work to be performed independently of the office and office hours in terms of time and location. Organizations have discovered that productivity can be higher if employees can autonomously decide how to achieve their agreed goals. Related to this is that it would be difficult to control their work anyway. When employees sit at their desks and use their computers, it does not necessarily mean that they are actually working. New media are used during office hours for organizational but also for private purposes. However, there is also the reverse case: new media are used for professional purposes away from office hours. The boundaries between work and non-work are becoming increasingly blurred. As a result, traditional ways of managing and measuring success are no longer appropriate.

Project goals: The changing requirements for flexible working and their impact on performance, employee satisfaction and well-being are examined at the individual, team and organizational levels. Individuals who work on a mobile basis require high levels of competence in terms of self-regulation and boundary management (this is about effective strategies for balancing work and personal life). On the team and organizational level, cultural aspects such as the dimensions of information / communication, trust and control are seen as the challenges for a successful implementation of flexible working. It will be clarified in the course of the project how the mentioned constructs interact.

Methods: Quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews will be used to answer the questions listed above. Data collection will be longitudinal. Ideally, a survey will be conducted before and after the change in the organizations.

We are looking for other organizations that are interested in flexible working conditions and would like to cooperate with us. Please contact us by e-mail: martina.hartner-tiefenthaler@tuwien.ac.at

You can find more information about the planned project here: Team climate questionnaire for the new work, opens a file in a new window

In addition, we also supervise master's theses on this subject area. If you are interested please send your concept to martina.hartner-tiefenthaler@tuwien.ac.at.